I heard a deranged cry, says witness in balcony death case

JOSH RATHMELL always walked the same way to work, following the paths in Hyde Park near the War Memorial.

As he took his usual route on a Saturday morning in July 2011, Mr Rathmell heard ''deranged'' and ''incomprehensible'' screaming coming from high up in The Hyde apartment block on Liverpool Street, a Sydney court has heard.

Mr Rathmell told the committal hearing for Simon Gittany, who is accused of causing his fiancee Lisa Cecilia Harnum to fall from the 15th storey of the apartment block, that he heard a man's cries.

''The best way I could [describe] it would be emotional and deranged,'' Mr Rathmell told the Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, via audio-visual link.

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Mr Rathmell said he then looked up and saw a man drop a black object over the balcony.

''I believe he had his shirt off, and my very first impression was this white male … [had] something I could only guess at the time to be a black duffle bag or luggage.''

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He said the man made an ''unloading'' motion and went inside the apartment in ''one swift movement''.

At first, Mr Rathmell said he thought it might have been a ''junkie'' throwing something off the balcony in an ''ice rage'', but as he saw people rushing towards the footpath he realised it was something more serious. ''I started coming to the conclusion it's not a black object, but it was in fact a human being,'' he said.

As he stood near Museum station, Mr Rathmell said he saw a man, who he believed to be the person he'd seen on the balcony, come out of the apartment block wearing a white shirt and striped pyjama pants and approach Ms Harnum's body.

''I observed him openly mourning, obviously very shocked as he walked straight towards the body. He had his hands over his face.

Mr Rathmell agreed with Mr Gittany's barrister, Anthony Bellanto, QC, that the screams and seeing the man on the balcony happened in a very short period of time.

''We're talking about a split second here. All I can confidently say is the scream drew my attention straight away,'' he said.

Mr Bellanto asked: ''Given the extremely short timeframe and given the distance you were away, you would agree that there may well be some doubt about the accuracy of your observations?''

''Absolutely,'' Mr Rathmell said.

Mr Bellanto read out Sergeant Brett Wall's notes on what Mr Gittany had said as they sat together in the apartment block's library, after his fiancee died.

''He said 'I'm just worried about her mum, she's going to be devastated'. He just kept repeating 'baby, baby, baby. I can't believe it'.''

Mr Bellanto also read out the police officer's notes on what Mr Gittany said happened to Ms Harnum: ''She just walked out on the balcony, got over the rail. I said 'what are you doing?' I tried to grab her but I couldn't.''